Feature
8 of the Best Results from RM Sotheby's Paris Auction
From video game unicorns to near $10 million Ferraris, here are our picks from RM Sotheby's latest sale.
February 4, 2026
No comfort. No compromise. Just hardcore cars designed to excite, involve and scare their drivers in equal measure.
If you think hardcore, you probably think fast, but there’s much more to it than that. A Bentley can be fast, but it’s far from hardcore. A stripped-out Renault Clio can be hardcore, but it sure isn’t fast. The difference isn’t lap time — it’s intent. Hardcore cars don’t try to fit into daily life. They don’t care about ride quality, storage, cup holders or whether your partner enjoys the journey.
Their sole purpose is to be involving, exciting, and frankly, a little bit intimidating. This list isn’t defined by price (although there are some mighty large numbers), horsepower (again, there are some big numbers!), age or brand, but by purity of purpose. From homologation specials to barely road-legal track weapons, from £65k to multiple millions, these are cars built to deliver adrenaline first, and to hell with everything else.
VVS
2004 | 33,000 Miles | £169,990
The 996 was the first GT3 RS, and it wasn’t much more luxurious than a proper Cup car. Stripped, stiffened and unapologetically focused, it took the already special GT3 and removed what little civility remained. A Mezger flat six, Nomex bucket seats, a roll cage, thinner glass, aggressive aero and that iconic white-on-red (or blue) livery make it feel like a Cup car with number plates. Manual only, and not a driving aid in sight beyond ABS, the 996 RS is wonderfully pure.
Only 113 were built in UK RHD form, which gives it serious collector gravity today. Values have climbed hard as buyers recognise this as the first RS of the water-cooled era, yet it still sits lower than other models in the RS bloodline.
The Octane Collection
1995 | 41,159 Miles | £474,995
If the 996 RS feels motorsport-inspired, the 993 Carrera RS simply is motorsport. This is the last air-cooled RS, built as a homologation weapon first and road car second. Weight stripped out, suspension sharpened, engine tuned and noise insulation largely forgotten, it delivers a driving experience that feels mechanical and alive in a way few modern cars can match.
Rarity is baked in, and demand is relentless. Values nudging half a million reflect not just collectability, but how irreplaceable this type of analogue, high-revving RS now feels. It’s hardcore not because it’s fast by modern standards, but because it demands total commitment from the driver. The downside? At this sort of money, not many owners will experience the joy of driving one hard.
Magma Cars
2021 | 5,850 Miles | £189,995
The 620R is McLaren doing something deliciously unfiltered: taking a GT4 race car and tweaking it just enough to be allowed on the road. It sits more aggressively than the already angry 600LT, with exposed carbon, fixed aero, roof scoop, stiff springs and very little interest in comfort. On circuit, it’s closer to a GT4 racer than a road-going supercar.
Only 225 were built worldwide, and very few remain in the UK, which already makes it niche even by hardcore McLaren standards. Values reflect the rarity difference between this and the 600LT, and it seems it’s valued by a different kind of buyer. The 600LT is a great-value, thrilling supercar, the 620R is a no-compromise track toy, and a modern motorsport collectible with number plates.
Hilton & Moss
2000 | 13,970 Miles | £65,950
If a McLaren racer for the road is just too heavy, the original Exige S1 is a masterclass in less-is-more brutality. Essentially a race car body dropped over Elise underpinnings, it has almost no concessions to refinement. Noise, vibration and feedback are constant companions, and that’s exactly the point. Lightweight (less than 800kg!), twitchy and utterly immersive, it delivers hardcore thrills at sensible speeds, something few modern cars manage.
Only 604 were built, with around 400 in RHD, making it rare in the most Lotus way possible — quietly, without shouting about it. This car has been in the same ownership for over 23 years, in which time values have rocketed.
Scuderia Prestige
2010 | 38,045 Miles | £64,995
If the Exige just has too much luxury for you (particularly a windscreen and doors), the KTM X-Bow (pronounced “crossbow”) R looks like it escaped from a wind tunnel before said doors were added — and that’s because, largely, it did. Carbon tub, no roof, no real screen, and a driving position that puts your helmet in the firing line of low-flying birds. The turbocharged Audi engine which has a K04 turbo upgrade here gives it real pace, but it’s the exposure that defines the experience.
It’s hardcore because it removes the safety net of insulation completely. Values in the £60k range make it one of the most visceral ways into extreme performance without drifting into seven-figure territory.
Premier GT
2024 | 2,005 Miles | £136,995
The Atom 4 R doesn’t pretend to be a car in the conventional sense — it’s a performance device that looks as close to an F1 car as anything you’ll ever see on the road. Exposed chassis, pushrod suspension, huge grip and a power-to-weight ratio that makes supercars feel lazy. With around 400bhp from a turbocharged Honda engine and almost no mass, acceleration borders on violent rather than quick. What makes it hardcore isn’t just speed, but transparency: you see the suspension work, you feel the tyres load, and you’re always aware of how little is separating you from the road.
The Atom has evolved into something genuinely engineered rather than kit-car eccentric, and at £130k-plus, it now sits among serious performance machinery, not novelty toys, but that much visceral performance, seen here with serious trickery like adjustable ABS and traction control systems and a sequential gearbox, is very hard to replicate at any price.
Howard Wise Cars
2022 | 823 Miles | £449,995
This seems like an S Class after the Atom, but make no mistake, the AMG GT Black Series is a very serious bit of kit. The Black Series is AMG temporarily forgetting how to be sensible. Wide, winged, loud and brutally fast, it’s closer to a GT3 car than an AMG GT R. It has massive aero, race-car suspension setup and a flat-plane crank V8, which doesn’t anything like as boistrous as a typical AMG, but puts out 730hp and shows this is more about go than show. It set lap records and showed that AMG isn’t just about muscle, but genuine circuit credibility, and it feels genuinely uncompromising compared to any other AMG before it.
With very low-mileage examples like this pushing £450k, it’s over four times the price of an AMG GT R on the used market, but this is a totally different machine. Too expensive or worthy future classic? Time will tell.
Mechatronik
2017 | 7,100 Km | €285,000
If the AMG is a bit precise, a bit German, for your tastes, welcome to 8.4 litres of ’Murica! The Viper ACR is beautifully unrefined in a world of digital precision. Massive naturally aspirated V10, manual gearbox, huge wings and tyres that look like they belong on a prototype racer. There’s no electrical cleverness here — it’s mechanical grip, power and bravery. With 8.4 litres of naturally-aspirated V10 under that mile-long bonnet, it is a truly wild experience. It looks like it wants to punch you in the face, and honestly, there’s every chance it will. Not for the faint of heart, but strap your big-boy pants on, and this is one of the most memorable cars I’ve ever driven.
European examples are rare, so it’s hard to talk values, but if you want what the Viper is selling, not much else will do.
Tom Hartley
2022 | 500 Miles | £649,950
The GT is the American brute, brought into the 21st century. Whilst the Viper is a wild sledgehammer of a thing, the Ford GT is a Le Mans car politely pretending to be road legal. Carbon tub, pushrod suspension, active aero and a cockpit that feels more fighter jet than supercar. It can put on a sort of civilised face when cruising, but once you lean on it, the race-car DNA becomes obvious. The GT wasn’t built to accommodate anyone’s lifestyle, it is an unapolagetic product of motorsport.
Ford’s controlled production and ownership rules created instant rarity, and values show how firmly it now sits in hypercar territory.
TOP 555
2025 | 95 Miles | £2,850,000
If the Ford GT looks nice but 650hp and Le Mans doesn’t sound as appealing as 1,063hp and Formula One, the AMG ONE is for you, and it barely belongs in the road-car world at all. An actual Formula One-derived hybrid powertrain, carbon everything, insane aero and running tolerances closer to a race team than a dealership. It’s complex, demanding and borderline absurd for public roads — which is exactly why it’s fascinating. It doesn’t get much more hardcore than the sheer audacity of putting F1 technology into something you can legally drive to a petrol station.
Only 275 exist, and with prices in the ballpark of £3m, it’s already established as a technical milestone rather than just another halo car.
Tom Hartley Jnr
2020 | £1,075,000
We’re still in the world of motorsport, but rather than looking to the cutting edge, the 935 is inspired by the past. This is Porsche indulging its motorsport heritage in the most theatrical way possible. Based on the 991 GT2 RS Clubsport and dressed in full Moby Dick tribute bodywork, it’s a track-only monster that looks like it escaped from an endurance race. No number plates, no compromises.
With only 77 built, its instant rarity means values of over £1 million aren’t exaclty surprising.
Furlonger Specialist Cars
1991 | 1,380 Miles | £POA
The XJR-15 is the most outrageous car Jaguar ever allowed into civilian hands. Built by Tom Walkinshaw Racing, carbon tub, V12 engine, it was effectively a Le Mans prototype softened just enough to pass road regulations. It’s loud, dramatic and intimidating even at idle. Hardcore here comes from its era — a time when manufacturers still sold race-derived monsters to private buyers without sanitising the experience first.
Only 27 were produced in road form, making it rarer than almost any modern hypercar. The XJR-15 is a fascinating bit of kit, so once you’ve checked out the last two hardcore contenders, read Paul’s blog all about the XJR-15 here.
Romans International
2020 | 623 Miles | £POA
Honestly, a standard Senna would be worthy of this list, it’s so uncompromising for the road, but this is a whole different sport. The GTR LM takes the already savage Senna GTR and wraps it in Le Mans homage, including 800 hours of glorious hand-painted Harrods livery work, in homage to the famous Harrods F1 GTR which finished third at Le Mans in 1995.
Only five were built worldwide, and just one in this specification. It’s not road legal, not polite and not remotely interested in accessibility. Everything about it screams commitment and brutality: aero, noise, stiffness and theatre.
Joe Macari
1996 | £POA
This is perhaps the only car that could top the Senna GTR LM in a hardcore list — the very car that inspired it. The F1 GTR sits at the very top of the hardcore pyramid. This is a genuine race car derived from one of the greatest road cars ever built. Central driving position, naturally aspirated V12, minimal electronics and Le Mans-proven pedigree give it mythical status. Values are essentially uncapped now, but that’s almost beside the point — nothing else combines purity, history and performance in quite the same way. Hardcore doesn’t get more authentic than a machine built to win endurance races and still capable of being driven, brutally, by a human being.
This GTR, chassis 16R, is one of the final three examples of the nine ’96 sped GTRs, finished in the iconic Fina livery similar to that of the E36 touring cars. To showcase their role in the car’s success having provided the legendary V12, BMW entered 16R (and 17R) into Le Mans in 1996, driven by Jacques Laffite, Marc Duez and Steve Soper to an 11th place overall finish.
